


the same words but their sound has changed

by Jinxter



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Brief Mentions Of The Beards In The Past Tense, F/F, Fluff, Sickly Sweet (haha), tropey fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 02:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10912512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinxter/pseuds/Jinxter
Summary: Regina dropped one of the onions she was removing from a grocery bag on the counter as Emma appeared in her peripheral vision. "Jesus," she exclaimed under her breath."You're the one creeping into my house, I think I'm the one supposed to be startled by your presence, not the other way around."Regina picked up the wayward vegetable and scowled. "I just didn't want to wake you," she grumbled, "you need your rest."(Something light to offset recent heaviness. Lots of fluff and tropey fun! Bed sharing, sickness/care-taking, domesticity.)





	the same words but their sound has changed

**Author's Note:**

> title from Sarah Blasko's song "Here"  
> seriously, check out her stuff, it gives me such SQ feels

Usually hearing someone pound impatiently, angrily on her front door would cause annoyance, but today they roused Emma from unpleasant, feverish dreams, and for that she was grateful. 

For a moment.

She coughed at the dryness of her mouth and pushed the blanket down to her waist, but rather than continue to rise, she sighed and rolled onto her back. 

The pounding sound echoed again through the near-empty foyer, Emma having never quite felt at home here enough to fill it properly with furniture. The sound resonated through her own throbbing head.

"Emma, I know you're in there! Open up!"

She scrunched her eyes closed and flicked her wrist, and in the next room the door swung open. By the skittering of shoes on the floor she realised Regina had thrown her weight behind knocking again and been caught off guard.

There was near silence for a moment, the quiet voices from the television the only, somewhat eerie sound, until Emma broke it by reaching for her phone to see the time, but knocking over the small brown bottle instead. It rolled along the coffee table, off the end and under a chair. 

Slow footsteps came towards her makeshift camp. "Miss Swan?"

Finally dragging her legs off the sofa one at a time, Emma sat upright, then quickly pulled the blanket around her. Regina came into view and she looked up at the woman looming over her with a frown, her dark eyes intense. "Hey."

"Are you--" eyes narrowed, "hungover?"

Emma shook her head, but the movement felt disorienting and the throbbing pain behind her eyes worsen. "No," she answered meekly.

"Are you sure? I ran into David at the store, he said Henry stayed the night with them after your Charming family dinner last night and you left with Captain Guyliner." Her hands raised and were placed on her hips, her form even more imposing. "This shared custody arrangement is hinged upon you spending equal time with our son. If I find out you are taking him from me only to leave him with your idiot parents while you go out rekindling your relationship with your ex-boyfriend, I'll not stand for it. This arrangement will be over!"

"Regina, please." Emma stood, the swift motion unbalancing her, and she wobbled before straightening up to her full height, which was slightly lower than Regina in heels. She pulled the blanket tighter around her. "It's not like that."

Regina crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What is it like, Emma? Why are you here looking like death-warmed-up at eleven thirty in the morning, smelling of--" her nose wrinkled "liqueur and sweat?" Her lip curled. "And spare me the details."

With a roll of her eyes, Emma flopped back down on the sofa. "It isn't liqueur, it's cough syrup. I'm not rekindling anything, I'm sick. Hook drove me home because he was nearby and messaging me and I didn't feel like driving home." If anything, that demonstrated how terrible she had felt, as her ex's newly-learned driving skills were nerve-wracking at the best of times. "I asked Henry to stay with my parents to try to stop him from catching whatever it is I've got."

Dark eyes studied her in the small amount of light coming in around the almost-closed blinds, the muted television actually providing more illumination, though sporadic. She took in the lank blonde hair, pasty, damp skin, and sag of normally strong shoulders. She glanced around the general area, taking in the roll and small pile of used toilet paper under the coffee table next to the box of sugary cereal that was obviously being eaten dry, the hot water bottle at the foot-end of where Emma had been laying, the bottle of sports drink and glass of water, both empty, and the fleecy blanket she was spreading back over her and tucking in around her feet.

"So, I'm sorry, Regina. It was late, Henry was happy to stay, I messaged him this morning to go to your place after school. I suppose I should have messaged you too, in case you have plans for your weekend off."

"Henry isn't work, Emma. A weekend without him isn't a weekend 'off', as you say."

Emma shrugged and lay down. "You know what I mean."

Hands returned to hips and she took another look at the pitiful sight of the Sheriff burrowed in, her eyes heavy-lidded and barely-visible tongue wetting dry lips. Regina sighed. "Yes, well, next time I'd appreciate if you kept me informed of what's happening." Her head tilts slightly as she softens. "And it's never too late to call me about Henry. I'd have come and collected him."

With a nod, Emma blinked twice, then her eyes stayed closed a full few seconds. "Okay. Sorry." She said no more, and didn't look back up at Regina until the upright woman took a step to leave.

"Alright then. Get some rest, Miss Swan."

Emma closed her eyes and nuzzled back into the cushion she was using as a pillow. She heard the door click closed as she drifted off to sleep, into more unsettling dreams.

When she opened her eyes again with a start she knew a number of hours had passed because the lines of sunlight on the wall had changed angle. She lay for a moment, again pushing the blanket off her to cool her damp skin. She still felt cold, though, and shivered but resisted the urge to cover herself again.

As her brain caught up with her body's emergence from sleep, she realised it was noises from somewhere inside the house that had woken her. Her eyes widened, and she felt instinctive trepidation before remembering this was Storybrooke, where the bad guys came swaggering in with bluster and bravado, not sneaking into someone's house in the mid-afternoon.

She threw the blanket the rest of the way off and rubbed her eyes as she rose. She wished she had socks on as the cold, polished floors chilled her feet as she walked quietly from the room.

Regina dropped one of the onions she was removing from a grocery bag on the counter as Emma appeared in her peripheral vision. "Jesus," she exclaimed under her breath.

"You're the one creeping into my house, I think I'm the one supposed to be startled by your presence, not the other way around." 

Regina picked up the wayward vegetable and scowled. "I just didn't want to wake you," she grumbled, "you need your rest."

Emma smiled as she leaned against the kitchen doorframe. "So what's all this?" 

Two brown paper bags sat on the counter, each half unpacked. Regina lifted a bottle of orange juice from one of them and flipped over a clean glass from the dish drying rack. She filled it, and shoved it into Emma's hand, just gently enough that it didn't slop over the rim. "Knowing you, you're not taking care of yourself. You're dehydrated and eating junk. That's what got you into this state in the first place."

Emma raised an eyebrow, then wet her lips and took a long drink of the juice, almost finishing it. Regina brought over the bottle and re-filled the glass, all the while avoiding the amused expression on the blonde's face by keeping her eyes averted. Emma instead could only watch long lashes blink before the other woman resumed unpacking groceries.

With carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, a bell pepper, and various root vegetables circling the chopping board, Regina began peeling and chopping. "You can help me make soup, if you like, but I'd prefer if you go and rest."

Looking at the clock and seeing it was almost four, Emma frowned. "Where's Henry?"

"With your parents for dinner, I'll collect him on my way home."

Wiping the condensation from the cold glass off her hand on her plaid flannel pajama pants, Emma brought her hand up and rubbed her opposite bicep. A shiver ran through her as the cool air on her bare shoulders began to get to her.

Regina narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Emma looked down, and realised she had taken her bra off the night before, slipping it out from under her tank top when she had stumbled in and collapsed on the sofa. She wondered if Regina had spotted it earlier, wherever it had ended up landing. She crossed her arms and felt a warm flush across her cheeks. 

The knife in Regina's hand was placed back down. "You're sweaty," she said, crossing the room. "You have a fever." She placed her hands on Emma's cheeks, and Emma flinched from the coolness of them more-so than the smell of the raw onion she had just been chopping. 

Her face was pulled down and warm lips pressed against her forehead, held for a moment, then both the hands and lips were gone. Emma's eyes remained closed a fraction longer, then she blinked a couple of times and looked at her friend, her mouth open slightly.

Regina's eyes were wide as well and for a moment she seemed uncomfortable with her own forwardness. "Lips can determine temperature more reliably than hands. You do have a fever but it doesn't feel too high." She drew her lip between her teeth and returned to the chopping board without looking again at the blonde. "Go on, go and rest."

With a smile, Emma retreated back to the living room and muted the television, preferring instead to drift back off to sleep to the sounds of Regina cooking.

It was a gentle shake that woke her for the third time that day, and when she cracked her eyes open, Regina was leaning over her. "Are you hungry?"

Her mouth made a sucking sound when she opened it, and she ran her tongue around her teeth to try to get some moisture back. She rubbed her eye and winced as she stretched and her aching back clicked. When her eyes opened again, a little more awake, Regina was tutting. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Emma managed the barest of shrugs. "Don't wanna be in there."

The hand still on her shoulder squeezed her gently, and when Regina stood, Emma could see a bowl of soup and a plate of crusty, generously buttered bread. She couldn't smell too well with her sore, stuffy sinuses, but it looked delicious. She licked her lips and rose to a sitting position, twisting her back and eliciting a few loud cracks.

"I can magic your bed out here, if you want," Regina offered.

Shaking her head, Emma reached for the steaming soup and stirred it. She dunked a piece of bread in it and shoved it in her mouth, as though her body had suddenly realised she hadn't eaten since the handful of cereal just before dawn when she'd woken to use the bathroom and upon realising she had a fever, called Mulan to cover her shift at the station. "The couch is fine," she mumbled between bites.

"Your back seems to think otherwise."

"My back will be fine," Emma snapped, suddenly cranky, "I don't want to be in my bed, alright?" She swore she heard Regina growl under her breath, but she said nothing more and stood to go. "Regina, wait. I'm sorry I'm cranky." She looked up at the older woman, her arms crossed and expression closed off, more hurt than angry. "Will you eat with me? This soup really is delicious." The corners of Regina's mouth curled slightly and the crease in her brow softened.

When she returned from the kitchen with her own bowl of soup, the tissues and blanket had been cleared off the end of the sofa for her. They ate in silence, pretending to pay attention to the cartoon quietly playing on the tv and they didn't even notice they couldn't hear what the characters were saying.

Emma finished chewing and swallowed. "I haven't slept in there since I broke up with him," she confessed. "Yeah, my back hurts, but it's not as bad as sleeping in the back seat of the bug."

"I see." Regina took a small chunk of bread for herself and offered the plate to Emma, who took another piece. Their eyes met and they gave each other a small, hesitant smile.

When Regina returned from clearing their plates, and took her seat, she glanced across at Emma, curled on her end of the couch, the blanket twisted and half on the floor. She sighed. "Can I make a suggestion?" There was no verbal response, but an openness in Emma's eyes, so she waved her hand and with a poof of purple smoke, the coffee table was moved to Emma's side and where the couch had been was now a queen-sized bed.

"Oh my god," Emma groaned, and her eyes rolled back in her head. "What sorcery is this?"

"Memory foam," Regina chuckled, her eyes twinkling at Emma's obvious delighted relief.

Emma rolled on her side, facing Regina, and burrowed down under the light, fluffy comforter. Green eyes opened and peeped out from under it. "Is this your bed?"

"No, although mine is the same kind, only bigger."

"A ki--"

Regina held her hand up. "Super Queen." She picked an invisible piece of fluff from her trousers as she sat cross-legged on the bed, and leant back against the stack of pillows propped against the high headboard. 

Emma peered at her for a moment before nodding. "Super Queen." She tucked the covers under her chin. "Want to watch some Netflix?"

It was Regina who woke next, her head lolled to one side, in a momentary panic of realising she was not in her own home. She lifted her head, which felt surprisingly heavy, and wiped the corner of her mouth. 

She looked down at the weight on her and watched Emma's slow breaths. The woman was curled next to her, cheek resting on her thigh, her back fully exposed as she had somehow wriggled crossways on the bed and therefore out from under the covers. Very gently she brushed her fingers across Emma's cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. Emma stirred and rolled a little more on her back to look up at her. 

Regina frowned and slid out from under her, but held Emma in place by cupping her cheeks in her hands, upside down from this angle, and again pressed her lips against her forehead. "Emma, you're really hot." 

"Why thank you. You're not so bad yourself, Madam Mayor," Emma chuckled.

Picking up her phone, Regina checked the time. 9:15pm and two missed calls from Snow. Her phone was on vibrate to everyone except Henry, and a text message from a minute ago simply read 'Mom, where are you?' must have been what finally stirred her.

She clicked the button and called him back to apologise and ask that he stay with his grandparents again, all the while she kept an eye on his other mother who was slipping back towards sleep. After she had assured Henry everything would be okay, she bade him goodnight. 

"Emma," she said, quietly, and waited for green eyes to open. "I'm going to take you to the ER."

The blonde sat up with great effort, pulling the blanket with her. "No thanks."

"Emma--"

"No," she croaked. "No hospital. No way."

Regina huffed, her hand on her hip and phone in hand. "I can call Dr Whale, ask him to do a home visit?"

The repulsed expression was answer enough, and Regina sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. But go and get in the shower, as cool as you can bear."

She pulled the comforter off Emma despite her resistance, and helped her stand. She watched with a frown as she trudged down the hallway and slowly ascended the stairs. Her phone vibrated and when Emma was out of sight, she read the message from Snow.

'What's going on with Emma? Is she alright?' 

'She has a the flu and a slight fever. Best to stay away, we don't need anyone passing a virus on to Neal.' She followed up with another message. 'Don't worry, I'll look after her.'

'Thanks, Regina. Give her our love, please. We hope she feels better soon.'

While the shower ran upstairs, Regina tidied the kitchen, cut the now-cool lasagne and covered the dish with clingfilm, and placed it in the refrigerator next to the salad. She transferred the rest of the soup into a sealed container and put that away too, then washed their few dishes by hand. 

She realised when she finished that the water was still running, so she climbed the stairs, unfamiliar with this part of Emma's new house. She followed the sound of the shower and knocked on the bathroom door. "Emma?"

Silence.

"Emma, are you okay?"

There was a grunted reply, almost a groan, and Regina's hand curled around the handle. "Emma, I'm coming in," she said and pushed the door open. 

She found Emma sitting on the floor of the shower, her knees pulled up to her chest and hair hanging over her face as lukewarm water cascaded over her. Regina reached in and turned the water off, grabbed the towel off the rail and leaned in to drape it around Emma. 

"Just tired," Emma said softly, her eyes half closed, "I'll get up in a minute."

Regina tucked wet hair back over Emma's shoulder. "Emma, sweetie, you'll freeze. Come on, let's get you up." 

"You shouldn't be here. I'm going to make you sick too."

Regina pulled the towel tighter around Emma's hunched shoulders and slid her hands over those wrapped around the sitting woman's knees, and felt them turn and take hold of hers.

"Unlike you, obviously, I take advantage of the free flu shot on offer every year. If you came from, grew up in," she corrected herself, "a land where influenza can and often does kill, you wouldn't be so blasé about dangers to your health. Now come on, up you get."

Regina placed one socked foot in the shower, not caring about wetting it, stood and pulled upwards, and at the extent of her reach she felt Emma pull back, using Regina to pull herself up, though she struggled. As she stepped back out of the shower stall, Regina felt her foot slip slightly, just enough to jerk her arm to correct her balance, just enough to throw Emma off balance and let go of her hand. 

Regina lunged forward to catch her, her chin bumping into collarbone and her arm around Emma's back, and then after a moment they were both steady again. Regina slid her arm out from underneath the towel, which she then pulled tight around her friend as she guided her out on to the bath mat. She sat Emma on the closed lid of the toilet and with another kiss to the forehead, breathed a sigh. "Definitely cooler." 

Emma rubbed the towel over her arms and dried her face. "Does that make me the 'cool mom'?" 

"I see you're not sick enough to lose that dreadful sense of humour," Regina said, draping a second towel over Emma's head, her fingers briefly rubbing her scalp the way she would ruffle Henry's hair. She looked around the small room. "Dry yourself off, I'll get you some clean pyjamas."

Regina had stepped into the hall and pulled the door closed before she realised she didn't know which room was Emma's. She opened the door opposite, but with the books and clocks on the bedside table and dresser it was clearly Henry's room, so she walked up the hall and opened the door on the right, and switched on the light. In the mirror on the dresser across the room was her reflection, it was only then she noticed the wetness of her shirt, and she tried to force the thought of her friend's naked body pressed against her chest. 

She closed her eyes and shook her head, then keeping her eyes away from the mirror, she opened the second dresser drawer. She had expected sleepwear, but it was a mixture of undergarments, and she pushed the drawer closed. The third drawer had t-shirts and tank tops, and after a quick glance in the mirror again at the obvious wet patches on her silk shirt, she removed it and quickly pulled a fitted dark grey t-shirt over her head. She hung her shirt on a hanger from the closet, and hooked it over the door handle to dry.

Reaching back in, she took a black tank, and had a quick rummage for pants, but couldn't find any. In the next drawer she found some yoga pants, and placed her hand again on the underwear drawer, uncertain whether Emma would want her to, or would prefer to go commando.

"If you pull the handle, the drawer slides out," Emma said from the doorway.

Regina jumped and turned. "I know how drawers work. I just got here and realised I didn't know what you would want to sleep in or where you kept it." She placed the items she had already chosen on top of the dresser and tugged down the hem of her -- well, Emma's -- shirt, only to look up and see Emma looking at it as well. "Oh! I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Emma smiled and walked towards her, one towel wrapped around her body, one wrapped around her head with her hair wound up inside. "It's only like, the second time I've seen you wear a t-shirt," she reached into her underwear drawer for a soft cup crop top and a pair of briefs and socks. "I like the casual Mills look," she said, Regina paused in the doorway and shook her head in quiet amusement.

Downstairs, Emma's bed -- well, Regina's spare bed -- had been re-made for her, one corner of the light quilt folded back. A bottle of water and box of tissues sat on the coffee table, which had been moved closer to double as a bedside table.

Regina slung her coat on, and Emma climbed into bed alone with a pang of disappointment. "Sleep well," she heard, her eyes already falling closed as she snuggled into the cosy, faintly rose-scented comfort.

Emma dredged herself up from sleep when the bed dipped slightly in front of her and soft fingertips stroked hair off her face. She scrunched her eyes against the brightness of the morning ran her tongue over her dry teeth, and wiped the corners of her mouth.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"What time is it?"

"Breakfast time," Regina said, rising. "How do you feel?"

Emma cracked an eye open, then the other. She stretched, groaned, clicked her shoulder and slowly sat up. "Better, I think. Rested, at least."

"Good. Drink this." Regina handed her a large mason jar in a brown paper bag, only the silver lid visible and the straw sticking out.

Emma took a sip then peeked inside the bag. "It's green! What is it? Some kind of witch's brew?"

Regina sighed and opened the curtains. "Trust me, you'd know if it were a brew, they always taste dreadful. That's just a fruit smoothie with spinach. You need the vitamin c and antioxidants." 

After another tentative sip, Emma relented and took a big gulp. "It takes alright actually. Fruity."

A smile played at the corner of Regina's lips. "Of course it tastes 'alright'; I made it."

"Thank you, Regina," Emma returned the smile, "for everything."

The brunette crossed her arms. "I can tell you're definitely still under the weather by the Snow-White-level of saccharine sweetness coming off you right now."

"Says the person who funds flu shots for the entire town she supposedly wanted to torment for all eternity." Emma sucked on the straw with a pointed stare.

Dark eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "I couldn't very well torment them for all eternity if they were all dead and disease-ridden, now could I? Anyway, I did it for Henry. So he wouldn't catch illnesses from anyone."

Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway, I'm going to work, I have a few things to catch up on since I was looking after you yesterday. David and Mulan are all arranged to cover shifts again today. I made lasagne for you yesterday, it's in the refrigerator ready to be heated up when you get hungry." She made her way to the door. "I'll check up on you later so if there's anything else you need, let me know. Get some rest."

Henry was in the living room when she arrived home from work. She toed off her pumps and hung her jacket in the coat closet. She ruffled his hair, careful not to dislodge his headset, and kissed the top of his head. 

"Hey, Mom," he said, not taking his eyes off the troll battle scene playing out in front of him. "No, not you, Mom. Mom just got home. Mom, Mom says hi."

Regina lifts the headset off Henry's head and places it on her own. "Hello."

"Oh, Regina, hey!"

"This is what you consider getting some rest?"

"I was so bored, you have no idea! But I am totally resting. I'm in bed."

"Mmhmm, that I can believe."

"Are you slob-shaming me after waiting on me hand and foot and making me sleep all the time?"

"Not at all. Do you need anything?"

Regina chuckled as one of the androgynous elf-like characters on screen took a big hit from a very small troll with a very large mallet and Emma swore and muttered frantically. "I need another fucking life is what I need,"

"Everyone else in town would disagree with you, I'm sure."

Emma snorted, "You're funny, Mills."

Henry groaned as both his and Emma's characters were pummeled by rocks flung from the ledge above. "Mom, I need to coordinate with Mom or we're both going to die here."

"Actually I need sheets! My fever broke and I sweated through them but mine don't fit your bed and if you could just magic some over-- shit! Sorry can you pass me back to Henry, we'll talk later."

Regina placed the headset back onto Henry and left them to their game. She wandered into the kitchen to fix Henry something healthy to snack on while she made dinner, but paused. She pursed her lips and walked upstairs to the empty spare bedroom. With a wave of her hand her bed appeared, along with a startled Emma perched on top of it, video controller in hand. The TV unit and game console also appeared against the end wall of the bedroom.

"Jesus, Regina!" 

"Mom?"

Regina rolled her eyes and with another wave of her hand, fresh sheets lined the bed. "I just thought it'd be easier to look after you both if you were in the same house."

"Not complaining, but a little warning would be nice," Emma ran a hand through her hair and shuffled backwards to lean against the headboard. "Yeah I'm here, kid. Literally," she laughed, "I'm upstairs, your mom--"

"Tell him to stay downstairs for now, just in case you're still infectious." Regina said as she stepped out into the hallway. "Dinner will be ready around seven. I'll bring you up a snack shortly."

Henry beamed at her over the back of the sofa as she passed the living room. She smiled back, feeling a warmth bloom in her chest.

The next morning Emma's dresser drawers and contents of her closet were brought over so she could get ready for work, by the next evening the bug was parked in the driveway. By Thursday they ran out of reasons why Emma needed to stay, and she toed the floor of the kitchen doorway as Regina put away the last of the dishes they'd just washed together after dinner.

"I suppose I should go, then," Emma said quietly. She bit her lip, and dropped her eyes to the floor for a moment, only for them to be captured by Regina's when she raised them again.

Regina gazed at her intently, wet her lips with her tongue and fidgeted with the corner of the tea towel. "You don't have to. If you don't want to."

"I don't need to," Emma replied, "I'm okay."

"I know you don't need to, but if you want..."

Emma shifted her weight to the other foot and shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "Do you want..."

"Henry has loved having you here." She placed the towel on the counter and took a step closer to the other woman. "I haven't loathed it," she added with a smile, and placed a hand on Emma's bicep, squeezing lightly. 

"Okay."

It was the kind of reading-between-the-lines that they had become used to with each other.

It was the kind of communication that caused misunderstandings.

It was two months later when Regina came home on a rainy Thursday afternoon and gave Henry money to order pizza. She disappeared up to her bedroom and shut the door. The tension had been building for days. It was the early morning disappearances to work instead of the leisurely family breakfast. It was the argument they had about the bug's oil stain on the driveway. It was the text messages she didn't reply to. Even Henry had sensed the mood and taken himself and his pizza of his bedroom.

Emma figured it was time. 

She pulled out a duffel bag and dropped it on the floor of the closet, and looked at her belongings. She took a few steps back and sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at her clothes until the sun was almost down and the room was grey. 

It was time to leave, to return to the big, empty house, to her lonely nights and part time parenting.

There was a soft knock on the door, and it creaked open a little from where it sat ajar, then further as Regina pushed.

"Hey," Emma said.

"Hey," came the reply. She had a crystal tumbler in her had, a double of scotch in it. The ice clinked as she shifted. "Mind if I..."

This is it. "No, it's okay." She shifted back on the bed and tucked her foot up under her knee.

Regina looked at the bed, hesitated, then closed the door behind her and sat next to Emma. She took a sip of her drink then rested it in her lap, both hands around the glass. "I'm sorry, Emma,"

"It's really okay, I understand."

She looked away from the ice in her glass long enough to catch Emma's eye before she dropped hers to the floor. "I suppose you do. But still, I wanted to apologise for my mood this week. I don't even know why... I have everything I want here, why would I need more?"

Emma ducked her head and opened her mouth to speak but a hand placed gently on her knee gave her pause. 

"I have Henry, and I have you. I managed just fine for so long knowing there was some soulmate out there, somewhere, and not having them in my life, but that whole saying about it's 'better to have loved and lost'? I'm not sure I believe it."

Green eyes widened and Emma looked up, though she couldn't see Regina's face for a lock of dark hair that had fallen forward to block her view. She reached out, cautious as though she might spook her, and gently slid fingers over her forearm. "This is about Robin," she murmured.

"Yes and no," Regina replied, taking a sip. "I don't even know. Nothing has ever felt like all the pieces fit quite right, you know?"

"That I do know," Emma said, smiling.

Regina smiled back, her fingers slid over Emma's on her arm. They lingered a moment, and Regina sighed, rolled her neck and a loud click was heard.

"Sore neck?" Emma asked as Regina's hand lifted off her own and instead squeezed her trapezius. "Here," she said, removing the glass from Regina's hand, and took a swig as she moved it to the bedside table. "Tax," she winked. Emma climbed around behind Regina, legs either side of her, and slid her hands over Regina's shoulders. "Wow, you're really tense."

Regina hummed and slowly relaxed into the massage as Emma's hands worked the tight muscles of her neck, shoulders, and upper back.

After a few minutes of kneading and the occasional moan that had Emma's cheeks warming at the sound of, Regina spoke. "Are you going somewhere?"

"What?"

Muscles moved under her hand as Regina pointed into the closet before dropping her hand down onto Emma's leg. "Your bag is out, are you going somewhere?" 

Emma slid her hands down Regina's arms and rested them on her own thighs. Her cheeks flared again. "I, uhh, no. I guess not." Regina looked over her shoulder. "I thought you were mad at me. I thought you wanted me to leave, so..."

"Emma!" Regina twisted around, her right hand now firmly planted mid-way up Emma's thigh. "I'm glad you're here, I don't want you to go anywhere." The redness in Emma's cheeks darkened and she let her hair fall forward as she dipped her head. Warm hands lifted to cradle her face and raise her eyes to Regina's. "Do you want to be here?" Emma nodded. "Good. You belong here, Emma," Regina smiled. "You belong."

A tear escaped one eye, quickly followed by the other, and soft lips pressed against Emma's forehead. Arms wrapped around her neck, Emma's arms wrapped around Regina's sideways-twisted body. The sweet scent of clean hair and perfume and the rise and fall with breaths and the beating of hearts all merged into the calmest of moments.

Down below, the doorbell rang and Henry thundered down the stairs a moment later. Regina pulled back and wiped Emma's damp cheek with her thumb. "It sounds like the pizzas are here." She stood, picked up her glass of scotch, then held her hand out for Emma. "Come on."

Emma let herself be pulled up, and their fingers linked as the reached the hall, slipping apart only as they reached the bottom of the stairs where Henry balanced two giant pizza boxes on one hand while stuffing a slice into his mouth with the other. 

Later, Regina helped with ending the lease on Emma's house, and the final possessions were moved over to Mifflin Street. The leaves turned yellow, then red, and the morning they woke up to the first snowfall, they dashed outside after Henry to greet it.

"Henry, you need a robe," Regina cried as Henry pelted Emma with a powdery snowball, then ducked as it shattered on impact and she also caught some of the flakes. "Emma, no," as his mother aimed one back at him and missed, "he'll get sick! Go on, mister, go and put a robe on, your pyjamas are too thin for this weather." The boy, nearly taller now than both his mothers, rolled his eyes but agreeably trotted to the door. "And boots," she called after him.

Emma sidled up to her, a wide grin on her face, and she brushed the melting snow off her flannel pyjama top. Regina helped, then Emma dusted some off Regina's shoulder, and hair, then wrapped her arms around the shorter woman. "You're cold," Regina said as Emma's head wiggled as a shiver ran through her.

"But it's so beautiful," Emma beamed, pulling back, her hands remaining on Regina's shoulders. Regina's eyes sparkled in the morning sunshine and she bunched flannel up in her fingers, pulling Emma closer. The air changed, eyes drifted, the space between them disappeared until their breaths were warm on each others' lips and as the birdsong faded into only the sounds of each other, lips pressed softly together.

The kiss was tentative, chaste, and lingered with pent up longing and tenderness. Their foreheads pressed together and breaths returned, Regina's hands cupped Emma's face and green eyes opened to find deep, dark eyes looking into her. Thumbs stroked her cheekbone, the edge of her lower lip, fingertips softly stroking the skin just behind her earlobes, eyes roamed her face as though seeing her for the first time, and when their eyes met again, Emma's cheeks dimpled into a smile. "Hey,"

Wetness pooled in Regina's eyes and she pressed forward, lips crushing together and tongues meeting, fingers delved into long hair, Emma's hands at Regina's waist, sliding up and over ribs and around her back to hold their shivering bodies tightly together, a whimper came from one of them, neither of them sure who.

Breaths were heavier as they parted the second time and with their cheeks pressed together the tear from Regina's eye slid over them both. "This is it, isn't it," Emma said softly.

"The missing piece," Regina whispered huskily.

The door opened and Henry charged out of the house, his step stuttering as he spotted his mothers' embrace. Emma let go of Regina with one arm and held it out to their son. "C'mere, kid."

Henry grinned and walked to them, wrapping his arms around them both. "It's about time," he chuckled, and kissed the side of Regina's head. "I love you guys."


End file.
